Links to Databases & Spreadsheets, New Callable Interfaces, and More!!

LINGO 4.0 allows easy access to data from a broader range of sources, makes it easier to hook LINGO into your own application, and includes a variety of other enhancements which make the modeling environment easier to use and more flexible.

Assembling data and getting it in an appropriate format can be the model builders most tedious and time consuming task. However, LINGO 4.0 allows you to build models that pull information directly from today's most popular and convenient data sources -- databases and spreadsheets.

Similarly, LINGO 4.0 can output the solution and sensitivity values right into a database or spreadsheet making it easier for you to generate reports in the application of your choice.

LINGO 4.0 takes advantage of ODBC technology, which allows you to reference set information and data in your model using virtually any popular Windows database. With a single statement in your model, you can transfer data between LINGO and applications such as Access, Oracle, DB/2, Paradox, SQL server or any other application with an ODBC driver.

Powerful links to MS Excel provided in LINGO 4.0 make it easier to build models that use data stored in Excel spreadsheets. By simply specifying the Excel workbook and a cell range, LINGO uses OLE technology to create direct links to Excel allowing for quick access to data in any Excel 97, 95 or 5 workbook. As with databases, a line in your LINGO model can also send solution information directly to an Excel workbook. You can even run LINGO as a server application using a MS Excel macro. This allows you to do things like put a "solve" button on an Excel sheet that directly calls LINGO and runs a series of commands.

The convenience of having your LINGO model formulation and Excel workbook in the same file can also be yours with LINGO 4.0. You can embed an Excel workbook in your LINGO model file or embed your LINGO model file into an Excel workbook. By opening a single file, you can view and edit both the formulation and data as well as run both LINGO and Excel. Similarly, you can embed LINGO in other supported applications -- and vice versa.

This release includes a number of enhancements to appeal to users who develop turn-key optimization applications. Developers will appreciate the OLE and DLL interfaces that allow them to call LINGO's model generator and solvers from custom applications written in development environments such as Visual Basic, C/C++ and Delphi. Those integrating LINGO into their own applications will also like the configuration options that streamline the way the solver displays and passes error information.